AlphaDream
{{short description|Defunct Japanese video game development company}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2024}}{{Infobox company
| name = AlphaDream Corporation, Ltd.
| logo = AlphaDream logo.svg
| logo_alt =
| image =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| native_name = 株式会社アルファドリーム
| native_name_lang = ja
| romanized_name = Kabushiki gaisha ArufaDorīmu
| former_name = AlphaStar Software
| type = Private
| industry = Video games
| genre = Video game development
| fate = Bankruptcy
| predecessor = AlphaStar (video game division)
| founded = {{Start date and age|2000|01|12}}, in Tokyo, Japan
| founder =
| defunct = {{End date and age|2019|10|01}}
| hq_location = Wako Miyamasuzaka Building, 2-19-8
| hq_location_city = Shibuya, Tokyo
| hq_location_country = Japan
| num_locations = 1 studio
| num_locations_year = 2019
| area_served =
| key_people = Tetsuo Mizuno (president)
| products = Games
| brands = Mario & Luigi series
| owner =
| num_employees = 38
| num_employees_year = 2011
| parent =
| website = {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930105400/http://www.alphadream.co.jp/|date=September 30, 2019|title=alphadream.co.jp}}
| footnotes = {{Cite web|date=2018-06-24|title=会社概要 -Profile- {{!}} 株式会社アルファドリーム ALPHADREAM CORPORATION|url=http://www.alphadream.co.jp/profile/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=alphadream.co.jp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624174506/http://www.alphadream.co.jp/profile/|archive-date=June 24, 2018}}{{Cite web|date=2020-01-13|title=A New Mario & Luigi Trademark Has Been Filed By Nintendo After AlphaDream's Bankruptcy|url=https://screenrant.com/mario-luigi-rpg-games-new-trademark-nintendo-alphadream/|access-date=2020-06-26|website=ScreenRant|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Mario & Luigi RPG Developer AlphaDream Has Gone Bankrupt|url=https://kotaku.com/mario-luigi-rpg-developer-alphadream-has-gone-bankrup-1838692022|access-date=2020-06-26|website=Kotaku|date=2 October 2019 |language=en-us}}
}}
{{Nihongo foot|AlphaDream Corporation, Ltd.|株式会社アルファドリーム|Kabushikigaisha ArufaDorīmu|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} was a Japanese video game development company founded in 2000 by Tetsuo Mizuno and Chihiro Fujioka in Tokyo, Japan. In partnership with Nintendo, it produced software for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, and Nintendo Switch, including the Mario & Luigi series. The company's staff included former developers from Square, such as Yoshihiko Maekawa. On October 1, 2019, AlphaDream was shut down after filing for bankruptcy during the first stages of Mario & Luigi: Brothership
History
AlphaDream was a spinoff company from {{nihongo foot|AlphaStar,|株式会社アルファスター|Kabushikigaisha ArufaSutā|lead=no|group=lower-alpha}} a staffing agency that dealt in construction work also known as {{nihongo foot|Mente Tomo and Ai.|株式会社メンテ友アンド愛|Kabushikigaisha Mente Yu ando Ai|extra=A bilingual kanji pun: 友 (friend) and 愛 (love) can be read as "You" and "I"|lead=no|group=lower-alpha}} Chihiro Fujioka joined AlphaStar in 1999 to head up a video game production division.{{Cite web|url=https://www.inside-games.jp/article/2003/11/21/12210.html|title=【Developer Profile】第8回 株式会社アルファドリーム}} He and Tetsuo Mizuno spun the company off as AlphaStar Software on January 12, 2000, before renaming it to AlphaDream in July of that year.{{cite web |url=https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-00010002-teikokudb-ind |title=『マリオ＆ルイージRPG』など開発 アルファドリームが破産開始（帝国データバンク） - Yahoo!ニュース |website=headlines.yahoo.co.jp |access-date=5 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003230429/https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-00010002-teikokudb-ind |archive-date=3 October 2019 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://gamebiz.jp/news/249967|title=『マリオ＆ルイージRPG』シリーズなどの開発会社アルファドリームの破産手続き開始が決定 直近では『けだまのゴンじろー フィットエンドラン』の開発も | gamebiz}} Several members of their staff had previously worked at Square, including Mizuno, Square's second president, and Fujioka and Yoshihiko Maekawa, who were game directors at Square. The name AlphaDream, meaning the 'first dream', is a play on Final Fantasy, Square's most notable series.
The company was known for their role-playing games, most notably the Mario & Luigi series for the Game Boy Advance, the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo 3DS. Their first game, Koto Battle, is a Pokémon-style role-playing game, wherein the player battles three of their twenty character cards against AI opponents. It was released in March 2001 for the Game Boy Color. While it remains a Japan-only game, it was later re-released for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console.
AlphaDream's next game was Tomato Adventure, released in January 2002. The player, as DeMille, a tomato-hater in the Ketchup Kingdom, fights his way from his outcast village to rescue his girlfriend. The in-game weapons are toy-like and the battles against opponents involve minigames.
Tomato Adventure was co-developed with Graphic Research and directed by Chihiro Fujioka of Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy Legend III. It was expected for release on the Game Boy Color as Gimmick Land, but was pushed to the new Game Boy Advance and renamed for better marketing. Tomato Adventure has not been released outside Japan.
AlphaDream became the developer of the Mario & Luigi series of games shortly after, with the first entry in the series, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, releasing in 2003.
On October 1, 2019, AlphaDream declared bankruptcy, citing sluggish revenues and high development costs, and being unable to keep up with growing debt (which as of March 2018 was over ¥465 million).{{cite web |author1=帝国データバンク |title=『マリオ＆ルイージRPG』など開発 アルファドリームが破産開始 |url=https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-00010002-teikokudb-ind |website=Yahoo! News Japan |access-date=2 October 2019 |language=ja |date=2 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002075042/https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191002-00010002-teikokudb-ind |archive-date=2 October 2019 |url-status=dead }}
Following the closure of AlphaDream, most of the developers who worked for the company, including Chihiro Fujioka, Yoshihiko Maekawa, and Akira Otani, who had originally been involved in previous Mario & Luigi games, then returned for the development of Mario & Luigi: Brothership, with Acquire as the lead developer.{{Cite web |last=Guner |first=Ediz |date=2024-10-24 |title=Mario and Luigi: Brothership Developer Acquire Explained |url=https://gamerant.com/mario-luigi-brothership-acquire-history-octopath-tenchu-explained/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=GameRant |language=en |url-status=live }}
Games
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|+ List of video games developed by AlphaDream ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Publisher ! scope="col" | Platform(s) |
| 2001
! scope="row" | Koto Battle: Tengai no Moribito | AlphaDream |
| 2002
! scope="row" | Tomato Adventure | rowspan="6" | Nintendo | rowspan="4" | Game Boy Advance |
| rowspan="2" | 2003
! scope="row" | Hamtaro: Rainbow Rescue |
| scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga |
|---|
| 2004
! scope="row" | Hamtaro: Ham-Ham Games |
| rowspan="2" | 2005
! scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time | rowspan="5" | Nintendo DS |
| scope="row" | Tottoko Hamtaro Nazo Nazo Q Kumonoue no ? Jou |
| 2007
! scope="row" | Hi Hamtaro! Ham-Ham Training |
| rowspan="2" | 2009
! scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story | Nintendo |
| scope="row" | PostPet DS |
| 2013
! scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Dream Team | rowspan="4" | Nintendo | rowspan="4" | Nintendo 3DS |
| 2015
! scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam |
| 2017
! scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser's Minions |
| 2018
! scope="row" | Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey |
| rowspan="3" |2019
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | Kedama no Gonjiro: Fit & Run | rowspan="2" | ForwardWorks | Android |
| iOS |
| scope="row" |Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020
| Sega |
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
External links
- {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930105400/http://www.alphadream.co.jp/ |date=September 30, 2019 |title=Official website}} {{in lang|ja}}
{{Mario & Luigi}}
{{Hamtaro}}
{{Portal bar|Companies|Japan|Video games}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alphadream}}
Category:Defunct video game companies of Japan
Category:Japanese companies established in 2000
Category:Video game companies established in 2000
Category:Japanese companies disestablished in 2019
Category:Video game companies disestablished in 2019
Category:Video game development companies